The big difference (IMO) is the screen - I love my Xperia Z's huge screen, it makes an iPhone screen look poky and small by comparison. But if you have smaller hands that could of course be a disadvantage, and it's definitely harder to use one-handed.

Otherwise they're fairly similar - there's not much difference between iOS and Android these days, the huge advantage in apps that Apple had 2 years ago has pretty much disappeared. Both are quality devices, with none of the cheap plastic feel that the top Samsung phones have. The Xperia is of course waterproof, which is nice. On the other hand there are a lot more accessories available for the iPhone, and if you have a Mac it'll be a lot better integrated. (If you don't have a Mac you'll be forced to use the loathsome PoS that is iTunes).

Never had an iPhone but recently got a Z1 compact and i'm very pleased with it. The battery life if superb compared to the other smart phones i've had, its also waterproof, not that ive tested it though.

The only downside seems to be the plastic screen which can scratch easily but i fitted another film to the screen as soon as i got the phone. (one is included in the box)

I've got an Xperia Z1, took a while to warm to it, due to it being a huge slab of glass. Finding it really usable though, great call quality, magnetic charger, Sony's skinning of Android is nice and lightweight, very good camera, waterproof! I wash it down post rides and don't worry about the rain.

There's tons I love about it. If I were buying again though, I'd get the Z1 Compact. I wouldn't get too caught up on the wording, it's still bigger than an iPhone.

I've just got a Z1 Compact as a replacement for my 3.5 year old iphone 4s. I'm quite pleased with it to be honest. It's definitely not as slick as an iphone but it's far more customisable. There seems to be an app or wigit to replace everything I was missing from the iphone (like DND mode).
Really good not to be tied to itunes which I really hated. Stuck a 20 quid 64 gig memory card in, so all in, less than 400 quid for sim free phone with over 70 gig of storage.

Looking to replace my tired old HTC One S in the next few months so have been pondering what to replace it with. Didn't want anything mahoosive, so was thinking either the Google Nexus 5 or the Z1 Compact so glad to hear the Z1 Compact is so well liked here!

redwoods » Looking to replace my tired old HTC One S in the next few months so have been pondering what to replace it with. Didn't want anything mahoosive, so was thinking either the Google Nexus 5 or the Z1 Compact so glad to hear the Z1 Compact is so well liked here!

I've just replaced my One S with the Z1C (yesterday!). Still getting to grips with the different Android skin but otherwise all looks good. I'm thinking about getting the click-on magnetic charger so I'm not opening and closing the door over the mini-USB port so often and it'll hopefully last longer.

Having just lost my iPhone 4s, I am going to go to the Sony Z2 over iPhone 5s.

Whilst slightly concerned about the size - the fact I can get it free, expand the memory and have a great camera sells me. I was tempted to wait for the iPhone 6 - but that will have a price tag on it.

What I do need to do is figure out how I get my music across from my Mac - but sure that isn't going to be a huge deal breaker

c_g - if you are just looking for a relatively basic smart phone then also consider having a look at the new Nokias. Nicely built phones and priced reasonably. I believe most of the new ones are also 4G ready.